A Different State of Mind
by RealityIsntWhatsReal
Summary: New character,Analyse aka Liz   is Annabeth's "little sister" after Annabeth owes the mortal world community service, but Liz becomes a big part of the world of the demi-gods and a big help,but...how?Includes Percy,Nico,Annabeth and others.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My lungs were about to explode from running, but I had to go just a little further if I wanted to at least place. My limbs turned to jelly once I crossed the finish line and the announcer's voice boomed through my ears merrily, "Fourth!"

_No. I was so close._ My vision blurred as the other racers sped passed me, my tight jogging shorts felt as though they were cutting off the circulation in my legs, and eventually I could feel the rise of bile in my throat and although I did everything in my power to prevent it from escaping my mouth, the contents spilled out generously. I had to brace myself on all fours until I was done, to which I had no energy to stand up, so instead I decided to lay down, maybe take a little nap…

Paramedics and people crowded around me, but I didn't need any help, so I waved them off. Truthfully, my legs felt as though they were made of lead, but I wasn't anybody to be pitied, I was Analyse Hatton, for goodness sakes, and that meant independence. I didn't need my dad even before he walked out on me, and I don't need his evil wife who was left as my guardian.

A wave of relief and yet envy washed over me as she came into view. She had long blond hair and grey eyes that could be just as stormy as the clouds they resembled when you pissed her off enough. She had the criminal record to prove it. The only reason I knew her was because she punched some guy in the face and was serving community service time by being in the Big Brothers/ Sisters program although I was fond of her like the sister I've always wanted, I didn't think she was very fond of me. Even though we couldn't look more different, I had lightly tanned skin, mint green eyes, and wavy burgundy coloured hair (that's actually naturally an almond brown), not to mention I'm short while she's tall, blond, grey eyed, model –like, perfect in every possible way that drove a person crazy if they were so lowly compared (a person like me), but nonetheless she was my sister... until the end of the week when she'll probably abandon me, joyous to be freed of this duty.

She smiled (one that seemed as forced as my step-mother's) and waved, "Hey, you were great out there!"

When she saw I couldn't speak she offered me water, "Thanks," I gasped before I chugged half the water bottle down in just a few seconds then wiped my mouth with the hem of my shirt. "But I was terrible, I didn't even place third."

"Just because you're not first, doesn't mean you weren't great," she offered encouragingly, but I just gave her a look. _This coming from the girl who made me rematch her in tennis six times until she finally beat me and I couldn't stand a chance._

"Please don't say that, that's what people say to losers." She laughed and brought me into this big bear hug, that hurt me a little bit, which I'm sure she did on purpose.

"Let's get out of here, I don't want to be around when they announce my name in the list of the top ten runners, aka, the three winners, and the seven others who were incredibly close, but not close enough, also known as the top _losers_," I whined spitting the last few words.

I was gifted with a forceful punch to the arm. "Ouch!" I yelled punching her right back, but she just punched me again, in the same spot even. "Why are you doing that?"

"Because," she exhaled frustrated, "You always put yourself down and I'm sick of it!"

"You put me down!" I shot back stalking away ignoring the fact that my legs ached and my breathing wasn't entirely steady yet, and the fact that she didn't know how much I envied her. Of course it wasn't her fault I was used to being the one good at everything, but it was her fault she was better than me at everything…she could have at least let me win once in a while.

She shot her arms up in exasperation, "What is that supposed to mean?"

It was easy to hear the wind I created when I whipped myself around to look up at her as menacingly as a five foot three person can to a five foot seven(or five foot eight) being. "_You_," I began trying to steady my breathing because at this point it was out of control, "You have everything! Of course you don't care if _I'm_ not first because you don't know what it's like to be a loser. You have the hot awesome boyfriend, the pool of friends, the height, the looks, the athletic ability, hell; you can even throw a decent punch! _Everything_! I want at least something. Sure, I'm a jack of all trades, but I'm never a master at any one thing, while you…you are master at everything. You bring me down because I can't stand that you never see me win, which diminishes me as a worthy person of your association."

"Is that what you think?" she asked appalled and the pain was evident in her eyes, "That you think you're not worthy."

"No," I said kicking a pop can somebody littered letting it land perfectly in the trash can with a _swish_.

"See? That was a good kick; it went over the crowd into the trash can."

"Yeah, whatever, I bet you could have kicked it better," I muttered over my shoulder as I started making my way through the crowd. It wasn't fair how good she was at everything. I could handle she was good at art and getting guys, but a tall blonde who has looks and brains, and fought like she was trained was just not fair. What if there was more of her where she came from? How were the rest of us girls supposed to compete?

"Liz!" As if she'd use the nickname she gave me to put me at ease. Using a nice mushy relationship base meaning that symbolizes and reminds me of our friendship is such a cliché. It was almost instinctively that I started running; after all I just finished a race, what were a few more blocks? I've ended every close relationship I've had with people, too, what was one more?

My form was good, I had a great pace, I was running in low populated areas that most people were afraid of, and making sharp turns, so imagine my reaction when Annabeth caught up with me. _ Great, she's a faster runner, too. Surprise, surprise…_

"Liz, what has gotten into you, why don't you think you're good enough to be my friend?" she asked, her grey eyes muted and serious.

I let out a long sigh. "You don't have to pretend anymore, your time's almost up. Once your time is done as my Big Sister, you don't have to strain yourself and keep in touch. I'm just a child to you, I know; you're twenty and I'm only sixteen years old. Let's be honest, and let's both be adults right now."

Annabeth let out a little laugh, "Okay… I'm honestly saying that even though you're only sixteen years old, you are not the youngest friend I have, and you have to be the coolest sixteen year-old I know."

I was so happy, it took everything I had not to shed a tear, but I couldn't resist hugging her. "Okay," she said in my hair, "Your turn. I saw a little bump under your tank top when you used the hem of your t-shirt to dry your mouth."

I laughed out loud, "You're the coolest twenty year-old I've ever met, and although you said not to do it, I got my bellybutton pierced…that's why I wore a tank top under my t-shirt." I hadn't realized my eyes were closed until I had the urge to open one just to take a peek at her reaction. I could see the storm arising in her eyes.

She took a step forward, and I held the now one quarter filled water bottle in front of me in defense, "Don't hurt me, or you'll get a face full of water."

She straightened her back, and responded coolly, "Put the water bottle down, Analyse."

"No!"

"Put it down, I'm not going to hurt you…just let me see it."

I obliged, slowly lowering the water bottle to my side, then even more slowly lifting up both shirts until they rested at my rib cage.

She was frozen solid until she saw it, "Oh thank gods," she breathed, "You actually make it look not terrible…," _Gee, thanks…,_ "Is that a new piercing in your right ear cartilage?" It wasn't a secret I tensed, it was quite obvious because I was very scared she'd be angry about this, but then she just muttered, "By gods you need to stop piercing yourself. You have two stud holes on each ear, one cartilage on your right, and now a bellybutton stud. It better be the last one, you hear me?"

"Yes, of course, no more piercings, the bellybutton was my last one, I won't even get a nose stud," _even though I already made the appointment, but I guess I'll have to cancel. After all, when the number of piercings is listed like that, it does sound like an awful lot._

"Thank gods," she mumbled again as she lead me to an openly populated place because I guess allies are kind of sketchy, aren't they?

"Don't you mean thank God," I inquired.

She stopped dead in her tracks and blinked at me. "Well, what did I say?"

"You said thank gods…"

"Oh," she said, continuing to walk, I noticed we were going back to where the race was, for some reason. "Yes, of course, that's what I meant."

"Why are we back here?"

"I left my cap on a bench," she said as her head travelled all about. Through the side of my eye, I saw a bench that was hidden behind a couple of leafy trees, so I turned my head until I could see the full of it and something limp sitting on top of it.

"Is that your cap?" I asked pointing to an old looking worn out cap sitting solely on the bench.

The relief on Annabeth's face while we walked towards it was so precious; it made her look like a child again. I guess the cap meant a lot to her, now that I think of it, she always has it with her even when she's not wearing it, I see it peeking out of her purse sometimes.

As she dusted off her cap just in case any lice-infested hobos tried it on, or the more common scenario: if it just fell on the floor, I downed the rest of my water and threw it over my shoulder.

"Ouch!"

The unexpected presence of somebody else startled me; I jumped out of my sneakers. I turned around to apologize, but stopped mid-sentence after the first couple of apologies. Standing in front of me rubbing the side of his head was some guy I had never seen before. He was probably about Annabeth's height, muscular, but not disgustingly so, he had fair skin and deep brown eyes that matched his hair, and he may have been one of the hottest guys I've ever seen since Annabeth's boyfriend, Percy. The only peculiar thing about him was that he was wearing all dark colours from his grey t-shirt to his black jeans (yes, jeans!) and sneakers, even though it was sunny outside…and he wasn't even sweating.

"Nico, what are you doing here?" Annabeth said giving him a hug you'd give an old friend.

"Well, since I left Camp Ha—" his attention that was focused on Annabeth flickered to me for an instance, as he cut off his sentence, "Anyways, I was just here seeing if anybody's heart stopped during the race or if anybody died…" _Okay? Suddenly he didn't seem as attractive as before_, "Then, afterwards I just stuck around, taking a stroll, but then, well, Annabeth we kind of need to do something."

"What?"

Annabeth and I followed his finger to where he was pointing, and suddenly there was this monstrous screech and there flying above the forest were these ugly monstrous creatures with wings and talons. My eyes felt as though they'd pop out their sockets as my jaw hit the ground, and I wished I hadn't finished off all that water because my throat now did feel a little parched.

Annabeth gripped my shoulders and looked into my eyes with an intensity I've never seen before, "Liz, you stay right here, okay? Don't move until we come back." There was a final note in her tone which told me it was an order, but as they started walking towards the forest, I had to use my gifted speed to catch up and haul them back by the collars of their shirts from their doom.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth yelled enraged as she fixed her plain white t-shirt.

"Are you guys insane?" I said in disbelief at their stupidity, was this Camp Whatever-the-Name-he-Wasn't-Sharing, a camp for those people who are crazy thrill seekers… or just those with mental problems? "Do you not see those…," I hesitated to find a word for those flying ugly moth things and in the end came up with nothing anyways, "_things_? I don't know what kind of rush you guys are after, but those things look like they can kill you! Like really tear out your heart and eyes with their razor sharp nails and eat it!" I was practically shouting by the end, so I was grateful barely anybody was around.

"Wait," said the boy, Nico I think, he looked about my age, maybe a bit older. He gripped my arm and turned me around to face him; his fingers were a bit cooled even if it was the middle of summer and he was wearing pants... in the middle of a sunny day in July! He looked at me incredulously, "Are you telling me that _you_ can see those furies?"

"Well, yeah…can't you?"

I didn't get a direct answer. All I know is that Annabeth and Nico shared some knowing look before the _things_, furies, sprang for them, but completely ignored me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Shut up, you stupid mortal, you're breaking my concentration. I'm trying to wake an army of dead, it'd be a real help if you didn't scream. I'm not going to repeat myself for the eleventh time," Nico said, his dark eyes large and hungry for what looked like death. _ Okay, a guy who thinks he can raise the dead, or waits for people to drop dead is definitely not attractive…This guy is definitely not hot anymore whatsoever, if I didn't include his abs that were easy to see through his shirt (stop staring), his arms, his face, and tousled hair…but other than that….ew…?_If I wasn't scared he'd kill me, I would have screamed again, and is it really my fault I'm terrified of monsters that aren't supposed to be real when they're going after one of my best friends?

Annabeth was doing a fine job and all fending off the fury that was after her by herself, but what about the second one that has just turned on me, or the third one that was cutting away at Nico. Okay, so maybe I shouldn't have been attracting so much attention with the screaming, and… the even louder screaming, but monstrous creatures are supposed to be a stupid myth older siblings tell you live under your bed or in your closet to make you wet your bed at night (or evil step-mothers your dad marries even though you specifically told him not to).

Okay, so I ran a race today, ran a few more blocks to run away from a loved one that I didn't think loved me, but actually did, so what was a few more blocks to the nearest… church? Would that keep it away?

Once I felt I burn and sting in my left arm when the ugly gray flying creature slashed my left arm it was decided I was going to church, and to think; I've never wanted to attend church so badly before in my life.

As I spun around to start running to…well, now I realize nowhere because I haven't a clue where the nearest church is, its grabby claws caught hold of my ponytail, and started sawing at my hair. My newly burgundy dyes hair! My hair that took forever to straighten this morning! I wasn't aware of the deep growls I was making in the back of my throat as I tried frantically to pull away until my throat felt sore. When I finally yanked away I could see it had cut a short little strand of my hair, and even though it was puny, it was my hair, and I couldn't let it grab hold of my hair again, or all hell would break loose.

It tried to come at the front of me, but I had been on the girls wrestling team, and did boxing on the side. Duck, drop, roll, move left, then right, then punch the sucker in the face. _Bam! Take that stupid monster thing! _

A sharp cry cut through the air in the direction Annabeth was in and in that small moment of a distraction, the thing caught hold of my hair again and was trying to pull me up in the air by it. Once I heard a rip I was done, "Oh….Hell _no_!" I shrieked. Using the creatures arms as balance beams, I flipped myself up over onto her back (well her head first, but then her back). _Thank you gymnastics!_ As she struggled to get me off of her, thrashing every which way, I wrapped my legs tightly around its waist while I struggled to take off my t-shirt (good thing I was wearing that tank top) to put it over the fury's face, holding it there tightly to suffocate her, but I had to drop it when she started digging her nails into my hands drawing scarlet substance to drop down below.

Suddenly, the ground was shaking, and although this fury thing was about to kill me I was grateful to not have been on the ground to endure this earthquake… especially when the ground opened up and dead bodies started spilling out. I don't care what Nico said, I speak my mind, "Ah!"

He was barking something at them in another language I didn't understand; well I knew it sure wasn't Spanish, English or French. He looked up at me, "Jump down!"

Looking down at the distance between me and the ground only made me cling to this ugly thing harder.

"Jump down, I'll catch you!"

"Are you drunk? You can't catch me!"

"Trust me!" he said his chocolate eyes pleading.

"I don't even know you!"

He smiled and nodded, weighing this in his head, "True," he admitted. "But just trust me, I'll catch you."

It took everything I had to finally let go, I had my eyes closed, so if I hit the ground, I wouldn't see my own blood splatter everywhere. All I felt was the impact when I hit something, but it was too human to be the ground. "Thank gods," he breathed, "I didn't know if I could actually do it." My eyes shot open in a fit of rage, "You could have killed me then!" I yelled at him, but he just smiled, "And you made me trust you!"

"Sorry?" he said with a crooked smile.

I rolled me eyes and hit him the arm, "Put me down," I ordered sternly, and to my surprise, he did as I said, and put me down beside Annabeth.

The group of dead people, and the three of us faced the three furies flying above us, neither of us doing anything, then, finally, Nico broke in clearing his throat before asking the question even I was wondering. "What are you doing here?"

"Your father sent us!" one of them hissed.

"But why?" he pressed angrily.

"You know what you did, you foolish child!" one of them shrieked, almost shattering my ear drum.

"Leave, now!" he warned, "You stand no chance for all of us."

They looked like they didn't believe him, but they left anyways, and just as they were out of sight, the bodies that were behind us disappeared leaving nothing but smoke and dust in their place.

Annabeth whirled on him, "What did you do, Nico?" she shrieked even more ear-piercingly than the furies shouted.

"Jesus," I muttered, pressing my fingers into my ears just to make sure they weren't bleeding. "Don't even answer that, the question is: what the hell is going on?"

"Well," he began slowly running his fingers through his hair, "Number one, Jesus doesn't exist..."

"What?" Now, this was news, I've been attending a catholic school all my life, and my Dad was Christian, "What do you mean Jesus isn't real?"

"I mean, Jesus isn't real, and neither is what you mortal Christians call, God," he said insensitively.

I couldn't even utter any words for this new news, so he took that as a signal to continue, "There's actually more than one god, the gods. I'm sure you've heard of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, Aphrodite and all them. I'll let you in on a little secret." He motioned with his fingers for me to lean in closer, so I did, and he whispered, "Greek mythology isn't really a myth."

Fits of laughter arose from within me, I couldn't help me, but when I looked at bother their solemn faces, I knew instantly they weren't joking.

"So, those were the real Furies, like, from the underworld and everything?"

"Yep. They're after me because my father didn't like me practicing from this book of his I found about raising dead armies, well their spirits."

Was this guy seriously stupid? "Well, duh. I'm sure barely anybody's parents would be alright with their child raising dead resting spirits and practicing necromancy."

He just gave me this flat look. _What's that supposed to mean?_ "It's not just that, I've been making deals secretly with Kronos's allies for ways to become immortal."

"Nico," Annabeth gasped, "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking living forever would kind of be awesome, Annabeth, plus I was super careful, I'm not going to pull a Luke and turn evil. In the meantime, I've been practicing this new technique where I can have the dead spirits rise and materialize where they are capable of touching and fighting, and my dad is supposed to be the only one who can do that. He also didn't appreciate me sneaking into his quarters and sneaking my way out, so he's super pissed, and wants to hold me captive in his chambers, and of course I'm not going to do that, so he keeps sending creatures and the Furies to come rough me up a bit then bring me to him. I don't know what he's afraid of."

She gripped his arm tightly, so tightly it made me cringe. "I'll tell you what he's afraid of, _Nico_," she hissed, "Of course since you ran away from Camp Half-Blood for the third time and didn't come back, you wouldn't have heard the news." He opened his mouth probably to ask what I wanted to, but she cut him off as if she could read both our minds, "Kronos is defeated, yes, but there was a secret society behind the gods' backs about those who have idolized Ouranos and wish him to get his vengeance. They've found all thousand pieces of him, and all they need are three half mortal offspring of Hades to create a ritual which will help Ouranos's spirit rise and be half embodies like the thing you're trying to practice. Kronos's direct offspring and anybody else Ouranos feels is closely enough related to him will be targeted for death, which means Zeus, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, Hestia, and your dad, Hades, maybe even us demi-gods and the gods who choose not to join him in his reign for vengeance of Kronos cutting him into a thousand pieces."

Honestly, for the majority of the story I was falling asleep, but when she said Nico's dad was Hades, my eyelids shot opened and I couldn't close them if I tried. "Your dad is Hades?" I probed bewildered. He nodded sheepishly. I was snapping my fingers trying to grab the word in my mind, "Wait," I said trying to think of the word, "That makes you a-a-a…" _What was the word, I could have sworn Annabeth just said it? Aha!_ "A demi-god, right?"

"Yeah, Annabeth is one, too."

"What?" Suddenly I was giddy with happiness, I have never felt so awesome in my life; I knew two demi-gods. How many people got to say that? Not that I would since I would look as crazy as I initially thought these two were. "Wait, so who's your parent that's a god?"

"Athena," she said proudly, "Goddess of wisdom, war, the arts, industry, justice and skill," _No wonder you're so damn perfect_, I thought to myself before she spun on Nico, her rage refueled, "And is the daughter of Zeus and may be killed, too because of you."

He scowled at her, and then returned his attention to me, "Maybe you're a demi-god and that's how you can see all this stuff because mortals aren't usually supposed to be able to see through the Mist. Do you happen to know if any of you parents are a God?"

"No," I said chuckling. _A parent can't really bring up the fact they're not mortal at the dinner table, _"My Dad was a plumber, but he's left to someplace, and my step-mother is manager of a McDonalds. Her name's Madge," I scoffed, "She's awful."

There was a gleam in his eye when I said this, "But, what about your real mother?"

"I don't know who she is, I never did."

He smiled, "Annabeth, you know what this means, we might have another demi-god on our hands. This is so exciting for you…what's your name?"

"Analyse Hatton, but people call me Liz," I said offering my hand, "You?"

"Nico Di Angelo," he replied taking it. "Do you have ADHD and/ or dyslexia by any chance?"

"No," I said automatically, I could feel my face burning up, turning on the colour of a ripe strawberry. _Would he be able to see right through me? _His smile started fading, and he cast Annabeth a worried look, but she was still glaring at him with her arms crossed.

"What?" he demanded running his fingers through his dark hair.

"You're missing the point just because you're distracted by a pretty girl!" It's hard to miss the feeling of the heat rising to your cheeks when you have nothing else to focus on. Did I really have the power to distract such an eccentric good-looking guy like Nico?

"What am I missing, Annabeth? You said yourself there needs to be three demi-god offspring of Hades, and since Bianca's dead," he spat his words bitterly with venom which made both Annabeth and I uneasy, "I am the only one, there isn't three of me, so there's nothing to worry about."

In just a slight moment the mood in the air changed as Annabeth shook her head gravely. "No Nico. When your dad heard the news he was forced to admit he fathered other semi-mortal children."

I could have sworn at that moment I could hear Nico's heart's racing beat… unless it was my own. "How many?" we asked simultaneously.

You could tell it exceedingly pained her to tell him, but she did anyways, "Well, let's just say, including you, they have the three they need."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Why are we going to Camp Half-Blood? You know she can't get in, Annabeth?" he asked her as we walked, all three of us drenched in sweat barely taking full steps toward wherever we were going. Right now it looked like we were in the middle of nowhere to be honest.

"What? I thought you said I was a demi-god," I gasped talking another stumbling step. I completely lost track of how long we've been walking. "Are you saying I've walked this whole way, almost got hit by a car even, all for nothing because I'm not allowed into your exclusive camp? I quit, I'm going to lay down on this road, since there are no cars going by anyways and sleep, so that when I wake up, I have enough energy to walk back home."

"Enough!" she said attempting to hit us both in the arms, but realistically speaking it was more like a gentle pat, "The both of you! And no you're not a demi-god Liz, it's not possible since you don't have dyslexia or ADHD which every half-blood has."

If that's one of the conditions about being a demi-god, I didn't want to mention I lied about not having it. I always found it a bit shameful and never admitted to it, so I can't just go back on my word now, but if I go through those boundaries they would know I lied. Plus if we went any further, I would never be able to make my way home; I hardly knew where I was right at this instance, so the right choice would be to start heading back home and stretch my lie as far as it could go. "Why the hell would you make me come with you guys if I can't even get into the camp? What am I supposed to do, sleep in a tree outside the barriers of this camp?"

Nico snorted, "That's true Annabeth, some daughter of Athena you are, making a stupid mistake like this."

That had done it. It was as if Annabeth absorbed the energy of every living thing nearby because suddenly she had the vitality to wrestle her way on top of Nico until she was holding him in an inescapable lock. "No body," she hissed in his ear, "Calls me stupid."

"Alright, alright! Just let me go!" he begged. She obliged, letting his head scrape the ground as she dropped his head and got back to her feet.

"As I was saying… Since you've left, Nico, there has been a rule change about who is and isn't allowed in. So mortal parents, and/or siblings can visit, there must be a request for a god to let them in, and the god/goddess must agree to do so for them to be allowed entry. My mother being the wise woman she is probably already knows of our request and has granted our wish."

"Wait, wait, wait," I said still carrying on with the charade, trying to keep them from getting any closer to the camp, after all, what was so bad about mortals? "Are you saying I'm still just a mere mortal?"

"Yep," Nico chirped and smiled, "A mere mortal you are… nothing but a common lowly mort –"

"There it is! Just up this hill and through those trees!" Annabeth beamed as relieved as the rest of us were.

Although my thighs and calves burned, my back ached, and my head throbbed from too much sun, I allowed myself a minor smile creep at the corners of my lips just at the thought of being able to see this camp for myself without being suspected of being a demi-god.

Nico and I followed in hot pursuit to Annabeth's determined trail up the hill, almost reaching the trees when from behind me, farther down the hill came a loud, "Help! Baaaa! Please wait!"

Before I joined Annabeth and Nico in turning around, I caught Annabeth's, "Oh, I completely forgot about him," under her breath. When I did turn around, down at the bottom of the hill was a man that looked completely normal besides the horns in his curly hair…and once he finished taking his pants off, there was not too much normal left of him. This…_thing _(there were a lot of _things _today) had furry legs that looked more like animal hind legs that ended in hooves.

"What is that thing?" I asked disgusted, "Is it evil, will it attack us?"

As the goat-man threw his pants over his shoulder he looked up at me annoyed and exclaimed, "I heard that missy! You better loose the 'tude before I come up there and kick you in the head," he said kicking up in the air with his…hind legs (I have no idea what to call them), but he ended up fumbling a bit down the hill. "You know, after I rest a bit because that walk was ridiculously long for my taste and body."

I could hear Annabeth chuckling as she rested her elbow on my shoulder (another reminder of how short I was; I'm a human arm rest), "That's Grover, he won't attack us, he was assigned to come to the mortal world with me to keep an eye on me and make sure I didn't get hurt."

"I never saw him…" Suddenly I got this sick feeling in my stomach, has he been watching me, too?

"He's been keeping a distance, he didn't really want to meet you, he said you reminded him of me, and one of me was bad enough," she said chuckling some more.

I just swallowed. "So, he's been watching both of us…from a distance, you mean like a stalker?"

"Hey!" Grover exclaimed pointing a finger at me, "I am no stalker, you hear me?"

Nodding my head about, I replied, "Yes…" _Oh, crap, what do I call him; sir or goat?_ "Sir?"

"Damn right I'm a sir." He was now in front of me, and he, too, although he was half goat, was taller than me. He put out his hand, "Hi, I'm Grover Underwood, I am not a thing, I am a satyr."

"Alright," I said taking his hand to shake it, "I'm Analyse Hatton…"

"But people call you Liz, I already knew that…from stalking you!" I'm guessing this was supposed to be a joke from the way he was laughing hysterically, as were Annabeth and Nico, but I couldn't bring myself to even a chuckle.

"Okay," he announced as the laughter died down, "Let's continue, but not so fast this time, that walk was brutal."

As we walked through the forest behind Annabeth who was leading the way, Nico and Grover fell into step with me, each on either side. "So," Grover said, "Who are you the daughter of, which goddess?"

"It's not possible for her to be a demi-god, Grover, she doesn't have dyslexia or ADHD," Nico said, and at the instance I saw Grover's face, I wish I had never lied in the first place.

"Sure she does," Grover said, "I've seen her medical records when I had to make sure she didn't have any mental issues that would result in her harming Annabeth, plus her tutor, Jane, who helps her understand because Liz has dyslexia, is super-hot so I wouldn't forget her."

At this moment I tried to speed up and walk beside Annabeth, but at the same time they each grabbed an arm and hauled me back. "You little liar," Nico sneered, "I bet you do know who your mother is and it is a goddess, isn't it?"

"No," Grover said for me, "She doesn't. I don't even know, there's no file or anything though, so it might be a goddess. Why would you lie to them?"

My throat felt dry as did my lips, so I swallowed before I licked my lips, cleared my throat, and did everything that would help me be at least the least bit audible when I spoke, because right now, my mouth was like a desert. They had to shake me a little, so that I would stay on task, "Because," I whispered finally, "It's embarrassing… for me."

"I knew you were just like Annabeth!" Grover yelled at me, "You both have to have things just so perfect. Well, guess what? You're not perfect, not because you have dyslexia or ADHD, but because you're a liar… and you're short."

I punched him in the arm, I couldn't help it. Dyslexia I could hide because of my tutor, so I'd just pretend I understood the lessons. ADHD I could hide because I claim I always have a song stuck in my head and just have to move to the music. However, my height was the one thing I couldn't hide, and I was sensitive about it, so he deserved to be hurt in my mind. He hissed in agony as he rubbed his arm to sooth the pain. _Take that!_ I thought to myself.

"Yep," he muttered, "Just like Annabeth."

"Why would you lie if you wanted to be a demi-god?" Nico inquired.

"I like my mortal life," I said simply, unable to look him in his serious dark eyes.

"Why?" he asked in a tone that hinted at revulsion and disbelief. It was the same tone I used when I asked what Grover was; now I knew how he felt.

"Because," I said coolly, not trying to let my rage rise to the surface, "I don't like those _things _coming after me. Those Furies kind of made me shit my pants, and I don't need the incident to be constant, thank you very much."

I saw the camp sign that even I could read said, "Camp Half-Blood," come into view, so I made a run for it, done with this conversation I was having with the two guys in the back.

"Wait!" Annabeth called, "If a god didn't give you permission to enter, the force field will hurt you, don't..."

But it was too late, I had already reached the entrance, and even as I hit the force field, nothing happened, except the fact that I went through it. On the other side, it was breath-taking. There were different cabins, all not resembling the other in any way, and on the cabin there was the name of a god/goddess. There was a canoe lake, a volley ball court, some place for arts and crafts, an armory, a forest, and arena, and some huge mansion that read, "Big House."

I could hear Nico and Grover trying to convince Annabeth that I was a demi-god. "I'm telling you, she lied about not having dyslexia or ADHD, plus you just saw her run past the boundaries as if she were allowed inside just like a demi-god…"

"Okay!" Annabeth exclaimed enraged, "But how do you know that she's just not a mortal who has ADHD and dyslexia as well as see through the mist, _but_ is not a demi-god? How do you know my mother didn't hear me talking and had already granted Liz permission to enter the camp? How do you explain the fact she never has the Minotaur, or Typhon hot on her trail even though she is supposedly a demi-god?"

Just then Percy comes running up to us, well he runs right past me, gives a kiss to Annabeth and friendly hellos and brotherly hugs to Nico and Grover.

"You're back!" he says to Nico before ruffling his hair like a big brother, and to Annabeth and Grover he says, "You guys are back, too, but aren't you supposed to be with little Liz?" I grit my teeth at _little_ and at how they all simultaneously gaze past him at me.

Percy turns around then, muddled, bidding to see what they're all staring at, and as his sea- green eyes land on me, they grow large in size. He opens his mouth to say something, but his mouth just stays open as he struggles to find something to say.

To the right of me there is some sort of galloping. _No way, is there horseback riding at this camp, too?_ As my eyes glaze over the horse all the way up to wear it's neck should be, there is the torso of a man, and on top of that, a man's head. He seemed to be of middle-aged and had long hair and a scruffy beard, and he was wearing some sort of armorial protective vest that was the colour copper. _Okay…not the kind of horse-back riding I had in mind._

"Hello, Annabeth, Grover, and even Nico, you're all back! Welcome back my friends! It seems as though it was a rough day, you're all bleeding even this little one…" he said as his eyes travelled to me. _Little_, I thought to myself, _there's that word again. _He narrowed his eyes curiously, "I beg your pardon, welcome to Camp Half-Blood, I'm Chiron, and what is your name dear?"

"Analyse Hatton," I said politely as he shook my hand.

"But everyone calls her Liz," they all said as if they could read my mind.

"Well, Annabeth, Nico, Grover, and Liz follow me to be healed, would you?" We all did, but I didn't know why Grover was bleeding. It made me wonder if perhaps we've been followed by those creatures Annabeth had mentioned.

"Well, I have to go back to teaching my class, I'll see you guys later," Percy called as he started leaving, he took one look at me and again struggled for what he wanted to say, "Well, bye now!" he ended up saying instead.

We made our way to the giant looking house where one section was an infirmary, and we were all laid on beds and were taken care of and bandaged by some person with quite a large number of eyes for a human. Apparently my wounds weren't as bad as the others so I was just stitched and bandaged lightly, but I waited for them to be finished so we could all talk about what we will be doing about me being, or not being a half-blood. Just as we had all settled and I was about to bring up my question, Percy burst through the door.

"Hi Annabeth," he said giving her light kiss on the forehead, "Are you alright? Nothing was majorly damaged, right?" She shook her head smiling, and he returned her smile, "Good," he breathed before he brought his lips down on hers. At this point I had to look away because I felt as though I was intruding on some intimate moment, but then Chiron came in and boomed, purposely interrupting Percy and Annabeth, "And I sense we're all feeling better?" I knew he was being purposely disruptive when he rolled his eyes at them two and winked at Nico, Grover and I.

To me, he asked, "Now, are you a half-blood, and daughter of whom?"

Percy jumped up at this moment, completely ignoring Annabeth, "That's what I wanted to know!"

Annabeth saw the way I immediately looked down, attempting to ignore the question and answered for me, "Well, the thing is, none of us really know whether she's a half-blood or not, and the only family she has at this moment is her step-mother, but I doubt whether she would know. She has no idea who her biological mother is, and her father walked out on her."

When I looked up, I was expecting to be greeted by Chiron's pitied eyes, which was why I didn't want to look up at first, but when I did, it was excitement that filled his eyes. "Well," he mused as his gaze fell on Nico, "I know how we can find out."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"No!" Nico exclaimed once again, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning against a tree.

Before we came to the forest, Chiron had said the only way to get a little closer to finding out who my mother was, was by going to Hades and asking because apparently Hades has a thing for stuff like this. He had a great memory, so if my mother was a goddess or if she had died, he would have met her at some point, and be able to see her features in me. If she hadn't died, then that would be settled, but if she had died or was a goddess, we would be spending an awful long time searching for answers. Plus, if he can distinguish any goddess's features with in me, then that would settle whether I am a demi-god or not. Annabeth, Percy, Grover and I have been trying to convince Nico to take us because he can get us in and out without us needing Persephone's pearls. The problem? Nico's acting like a total jerk just because he doesn't want to face his father's wrath. Granted, he'll be super grounded, and he'll have to stay down there like his father wants, so he's not discovered by those Ouranos worshippers to fulfill some sick ritual they need him for. So, he may be down there a while, but he knows the underworld inside out, he could escape.

Grover threw his arm around me and squeezed me tight as if we'd known each other for the longest time and said, "This poor girl, Nico, does not know who she is. Is she mortal, is she a half-blood? Nobody knows, but we could if you helped us, but you choose not to. What does that say about you?"

Nico smirked and ran his fingers through his dark hair, "It says I'm a logical thinker."

My shoulder felt as though it popped out of its socket when Grover shoved me aside like a ragdoll letting me crash into a tree so he could approach Nico furiously. "No, it says you're selfish! Come on man, I want to get out of here and go on a real quest, not babysitting Annabeth."

Annabeth scoffed, "Okay, Grover, I'm pretty sure I was out of harm's way. Do you really expect Liz to be able to take me…or any of us for that matter?"

Suddenly I was seeing red. _Oh no she didn't_. Grover, having seen my expression held his hand up to his mouth to hide the fact he was laughing, which only incensed me even more. I burst, "Come on then, let's see!"

There was nothing but utter silence for a moment, not even the scuffling of the leaves; nothing, but then a second later Nico started chuckling, which caused a chain reaction. Soon enough there was a riot of laughter all aimed at me. My teeth felt as though they'd shatter; that's how hard I was gritting my teeth at this point.

"Okay," Nico said trying to stop laughing and reach out to me in this moment of pure embarrassment, "Real simple, you will punch me with your best shot in the face, and this way we can all see what we're dealing with."

He readied himself, slanting his head a bit back, and turning his head, "Right here," he said still chuckling a bit, "Right here where my jaw is."

He couldn't stop laughing; it irked every nerve in my body. Just because I was small, didn't mean I wasn't strong. _I'm going to hit that smirk right off that face_, I thought to myself. Out loud I said, "Don't mind if I do."

I drew my fist back and shot daggers with me eyes, but he didn't recoil, or even close his eyes. I swung his jaw with all the force I could muster, and as my fist made contact with his jaw, I had the pleasure to see him stop smiling, and his eyes widen in terror. The cry of pure agony he let out was also refreshing and enough to make me smile, but he didn't think so.

"Ah! You bitch, I think my jaw locked!" He stormed off, and even then I couldn't stop smiling.

"So, I'm going to take that she's strong from this experience, okay Nico?" he called after him laughing, Nico didn't even look back, but instead gave him the finger as he left the forest.

Grover looked down at me smiling, "You pretty happy with yourself aren't you?"

"Yep," I breathed unable to allow my smile to fade, it felt good to prove them all wrong. "Who's next?"

They all jokingly took a step back, and we returned to the big house infirmary to see how Nico was doing. As it turned out, I actually did lock his jaw, but for some reason, I didn't feel the least bit of remorse. I was humiliated; he deserved it. Little did I know that one measly punch in the face settled his mind on not taking me to the underworld. They all kicked me out to discuss demi-god business; whatever, I guess I'll go explore, all by myself.

Okay, so this isn't exactly a great start to exploring; going back to the forest to climb a tree, and sit up here all by myself like a loner who has no friends, which is exactly what I am here if I can't hang out with the only people I moderately know. Once I'm climbed, and I'm staring at the sun set I hear a voice from below, "Please don't tell me you're stuck up there."

I look down expecting to see Percy, Nico or Grover, but instead it's a tall broad shouldered guy, muscles were evident under his Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, blonde, sky blue eyes, tanned, a dimpled perfect smile, and not to mention, a complete and total stranger. Probably one of the hottest strangers I've ever seen, especially when he smiled, just like he was doing as he climbed up to set beside me on the branch.

"So," he said still grinning with his eyes gleaming, "Do you need help getting down? I've saved many cats stuck in trees; a beautiful girl shouldn't be too different."

I couldn't help but scoff, "Beautiful? Me? Please…"I said looking down at my lap.

"Sure you are," he said, and when I looked up, his stare was so intense it startled me a bit, but not in a way that frightened me; more in a way that kept my eyes locked on his. I knew better, though, so I willed myself to look back at the sunset settling, and cleared my throat and started blurting out the basics. "So, I'm Analyse Hatton, by the way, but everyone calls me Liz, I'm sixteen years old, and my favourite colour is green. So, who are you exactly?"

"Jonathon Holden, I'm eighteen, my favourite colour is red, too, and I'm the son of Aphrodite. Who are you the daughter of?"

"Well, I don't really know, that's what we want to find out," I admitted sheepishly…_ and son of Aphrodite, huh? I think she's the goddess of love and beauty… and sexual rapture isn't she?_

"Who's 'we'?"

"Do you know Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Grover Underwood and Nico Di Angelo?" he nodded, "Well, they and I is who 'we' is."

"What about me?"

My head snapped so quickly in his direction I heard a crack. I blinked at him, "What do you mean, what about you?"

He gave a teasing smile, and just as his mouth opened to say something, uproar of battle cries sounded from beneath us. "Oh crap," he breathed.

Just as I was about to ask what it was that troubled him, I saw armored young adults, ranging from the age of twelve to seventeen around as they attackedeach other with a variety of weapons. Some had armored head gear that had blue on it, others with red, and they all wore different coloured Camp Half-Blood t-shirts. _Speaking of Camp Half-Blood, if they didn't stop this fighting they would all loose half their blood. What kind of camp is this?_

"They're just playing."

He could not be serious. "Playing what?" I ask skeptically.

"Capture the flag," he replies simply as if a game where people slice each other up for a damn flag I could buy at the dollar store was completely normal.

"And I thought I could get competitive." The impact of one girl's sword on another boy's leg made me wince. I could see the way it sliced his skin and opened it up so that his blood, half-god blood, poured out, and if it wasn't my imagination, the boy actually laughed at his own pain. They all moved on, going their separate ways, some to the infirmary and others in search of the rival team's flag.

"Why aren't you playing?" I probed curiously.

"Would you?"

_Okay, point taken. _"Probably not, actually," I told him honestly.

"Why not, it's fun?"

I just looked at him. "I thought you didn't play," I said flatly.

"Just because I'm the son of Aphrodite doesn't mean I'm useless in battle," he said defensively, "I thought you would say yes…"

"Why would _anybody_ in their right mind want to play this?" the shock in my voice was evident in my voice, in fact exceedingly so, but it was challenging to tone down being appalled.

"Well, we're actually alike in that way. At first because of my siblings I didn't want to play either, we all usually just sit out, but when I was trying to get the attention of some hot girl in the Athena cabin, she was a bit older and great in battle, so I was trying to impress her. I wanted to be of the few Aphrodite children who participated in brawls like this. So, being afraid, the way you are, how would you play this game?"

It took me a while to thoroughly contemplate my options before I was able to respond, "Most likely hidden, and sneaky."

He clapped his hands together once in excitement, and pointed his index finger at me, "Exactly! My helmet is in a bush over there, and I usually hide up here in the trees or low hidden in bushes. I have extra weapons if you want, but the only other helmet I have is red, so you won't be on my team… unless…" His face lit up as he jumped down and ran for the bush.

I hadn't remembered agreeing to these terms, but here I was in the bushes hiding with him, waiting until the guy with the blue helmet was close enough so we could grab him, tie him up and steal his helmet so I could be on Jonathon's team, but this kid was backing up into our bush too slowly and cautiously. By the time he gets to where we are the game will be over.

There's this _snap_ of a twig which sends him diving into our hiding place in the bush. _Perfect! _Just as he is in arms reach we yank him into the bush, and Jonathon holds him while I tie him up, but there's just one problem…this guy is really strong. While I'm trying to tie his ankles together, Jonathon is trying to keep him from thrashing and kicking me in the face, as well as hold his mouth shut. When we finally finish and switch the helmets, he has gone completely still, and for a second I thought he was dead, but then his eyes shot open showing me his intensely hazel eyes. I was so mesmerized by them; I almost didn't notice he was completely out of all the knots I tied, which was difficult registering. I was in girl scouts after all; I know how to tie a knot, so this guy must be some sort of master at undoing them.

He was standing up straight right in front of me, he was almost a complete foot taller than I, he looked African-American with medium dark skin, he had short curled black hair, he had muscle of course (we almost couldn't get him tied up), and of course those hazel eyes. He reached his arm out, I cowered lower to the ground, thinking he was going to strike me.

"Please don't hurt me," I whimpered, closing me eyes, and holding my palms out in front of me as a shield.

Nothing happened, but as I opened my eyes, I caught sight of his hand about an inch from my face, and instinctively I back handed his hand away and brought it right back to smack him in the face.

He looked at me hard through slit eyelids, only leaving me with a glimpse of the strokes of brown, green and gold that caressed his iris. Just then, he smiled wickedly, while holding up his hand that had something in it. It took me a while to realize that they were fingers, I reached forward with my right hand to inspect it forward, but when my hand reached his, I didn't have my fingers. I let out an ear piercing screech. I was shaking in mortification, and so were Jonathon and the guy with my fingers in his hand, but they were shaking from their silent chuckles. I kicked them both, but that just made their silent chuckles escape their mouths and evolve into uncontrollable chortles. Waving my fingerless hand in front of their faces, I growled, "This is not funny," but evidently it was to them.

In the middle of me cursing up and down Nico came into the woods looking for me, and when he found me, and I told him and showed him what had happened, he too couldn't hold in his laughter. Was I the only one that failed to see the humour in this? I was missing my fingers for goodness sakes! I was left with just a palm, and to add on to the lack of physical comfort, some guy I didn't even know was holding my detached fingers in his hand.

Nico slapped the guy in the back amicably. "Alright Jason, just give her back her fingers, we have to get going."

I blinked, "Wait a second," I said, "You mean we're…"

Nico gave me a half smile and nodded.

I wanted to clap my hands together in glee and jump about, but came up short when I had just me palm, and of course to this Nico, Jonathon, and Jason all started to crack up. Eventually Jonathon stood up for me letting the other two jerks know that it was enough, and it was time I got my fingers back.

Jason reluctantly obliged and opened his palm. At first I thought he dropped my fingers into the soil, but when I dived down to try to catch them, I realized my fingers were back in place.

"Thank you," I breathed.

"Okay, now let's go," Nico said irritably, guiding me out of the forest. I could hear footsteps behind us, and sure enough it was…

"I want to come."

"Sorry, Jonathon," Nico said for me, "But you're not going."

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Jason inquisitively.

"_We_," Nico replied as his irritation grew, "Aren't going anywhere; Liz and I are going to hang out with some friends."

"Outside the camp," Jonathon guessed.

"Outside the camp," Nico verified under his breath.

"I'm coming," Jason and Jonathon both said at the same time.

Coincidentally, Nico and I both responded simultaneously as well, "No, you're not."

"Come on," Jason pleaded, "You need us."

To that Nico scoffed. "For what?"

"Well, I can talk and charm my way in or out of things," Jonathon pointed out, "Plus Jason's magic could sure come in handy… plus back up couldn't hurt."

Desperate for both of them to shut up, Nico agreed to it. Just as we were approaching Percy's cabin where we were all meeting, I saw the four of us in the reflection of a mirror; me and three extremely good looking guys…and we were all going to be spending loads of time together for the next few days. I nervous feeling arose in the pit of my stomach, yet a smile on my lips. Forget vampires and werewolves, demi-gods are where it's at, and soon enough, the underworld will be where I'm at.


	5. Chapter 5

Please go to my profile and check out my poll for this story. It's about whom Analyse Hatton (Liz) should end up with, and you guys have the choices of Nico, Jonathon, or Jason. I don't know how long the poll would be open, but I need to know in which direction I'm heading, so I need fans of the story to vote on who they rather see together. When it's obvious one of the above are favoured, that is when I'll close the poll. Thanks so much if you vote! (I just can't make this decision myself)


	6. Chapter 6

Just a reminder there is a poll on who you think Liz should end up with and one of the choices is to say who you would rather have Liz end up with in a review if you don't like any of the choices. Poll will close at the end of this month or maybe a bit later if i'm behind on updates.

Chapter 5

"Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth, when are you going to learn your lesson?" the middle aged balding man said as he drank from his coffee. He was fun to watch because of how weird looking he was. He was even shorter than I was, a little pudgy, no hair on the top of his head, but had brunette hairs sprouting on the sides and yet his mustache gave the illusion he was a ginger. His glasses were Harry Potter-like except larger in circumference and the thickness of their lenses made his eyes look bulgy. Better yet, every time he took a sip of his coffee, his mustache acted like a sponge coming up drenched in coffee that just sat there atop his lip like a damp cloth

"I'm telling you, I had nothing to do with that injured man," Annabeth pressed.

Grover was nodding has he pointed at the officer and defended his dear friend, "That's right, Sir, you got the wrong person now let us all go we're in a hurry."

There was a pool of brown as he slammed his coffee on the table and some of it escaped his cup, "You expect me to believe that a group of youngsters speeding through three red lights away from a crime scene, with a woman with a criminal past driving them had nothing to do with the theft and injury? You expect me to believe you all despite the points I'm bringing up?"

I heard a low noise from someone's throat to the left of me, but don't bother checking who it was, we've all been whining and groaning since the police car pulled us over. It's not Annabeth's fault she can't drive, but I guess it didn't really blow over well that Grover was the only one with a valid licence. Suddenly I hear a shrill screech coming from across the table, and look over to the ginger-faced man who's hopping up and down with a wet spot on his trousers screaming how scorching hot it was. _How does that even happen, he set the coffee down so firmly on the table…wait a second…oh_. I look over at the culprit who was also the one who made the noise. He was sitting with his curled black haired head back closing his eyes and resting with his legs outstretched and his arms crossed. As if he could sense I was watching him one of his eyelids flew open giving me a flash of hazel. He grinned at me and started chuckling, and when Officer Allan was about to take his seat once he recovered and it flew away at the last minute letting him fall on his ass Jason and I both lost it.

He points his pink sausage finger at us (that's another funny thing about this guy, aside from his mismatched body hair, he got really pink when he was angry) menacingly and hissed, "I don't know how, but you two did this, and it will stop right now, or there will be consequences."

"I'm going to go to the washroom, where is it?" Jonathon asked, his voice as gentle as velvet, looking deep into the man's eyes.

"From the entrance, to your left down the hall, first door on your right," he replied.

There was a swift squeak as Nico leaped out of his chair enraged, "How is that fair? I've need to piss way longer than he has, and you wouldn't let me!"

"Sit down young man; nobody's going anywhere until this matter is resolved!"

Nico chose not to sit down, instead he walked right up to the man, picked the large coffee cup from his hand, went to a corner, unzipped his own pants, started pulling them down a bit… and I'm going to stop looking now. After a few awkward moments Nico came back slammed the cup in front of the officer on the desk and hissed, "Drink this."

You could see the way the pink travelled from the man's neck to his cheeks, then just exploding everywhere. The officer then got up, "You!" he began, but then the door swung open and Jonathon came back in with some guy behind him.

Jonathon's blue eyes sparkled as he came back to sit beside me smiling. "What's with the grin?" I ask curiously.

He leaned in next to my ear and whispered, "You'll see," as his breath tickled my skin.

The guy who had entered in pursuit of Jonathon walked up to Officer Allen and instructed him to let us go.

"Why?" Officer Allen demanded incredulously.

"Apparently, the victim regained consciousness and remembered who had harmed, him and it's none of these guys."

"Are you sure?"

It happened as fast as light travels, but I saw it as his eyes flickered to Jonathon and then back, "Yes."

The officer turned around to glare at us one last time. "Fine," he spat and as his slit eyed gaze fell on Annabeth he said, "But you still get tickets, and I better never see you or here of any criminal offence you commit ever again Annabeth. We know each other too well. Now all of you get out."

It took a moment for the last part of what she said to register the first time, but the second time when he projected his voice; it barely took a second before we were all tripping over each other to get out.

We all strode to the car behind Annabeth as she took out the keys to the car we stole after we snuck out of the camp…even after Chiron specifically said not to…on top of that the car we stole apparently belonged to Dionysus, which explained the excessive amount of wine in the minivan. Just as Annabeth was about to unlock the door, Grover snatched the keys from her hands.

"No, no, no," he exclaimed, "No more of all you demi-gods trying to drive, that's enough wasting time for my day. Sorry, Liz, but you have the same condition these guys have when it comes to driving, you will not be driving either, it's my turn."

Evidently, Grover was the better driver, even with Annabeth trying to get him to speed up, even if we were at the speed limit, and while she was crying, and screaming. I wondered, _was I really that bad when it came to PMS?_

Eventually while the majority were sleeping, twiddling my thumbs became so unbearably boring I did the only thing I could do with Nico and Grover being the only ones up. Nico was still mad about his jaw, so I challenged Grover to a lyric contest, where we had to continue the lyrics of a song whenever the other one stopped, but once Grover got so distracted, the car nearly drove into a tree, the game was over. _Twiddle, twiddle, twiddle, twiddle… God, my thumbs are boring…I mean gods my thumbs are…whatever who cares._

There was this huge crash, which bolted me right back into reality, but everything was fine, besides the fact I was bored out of my mind, but then as I listened more intently, the noise was actually a song, it was a heavy metal song, which is not my favourite genre of music to be honest.

I must have made some sort of disgusted face because Nico immediately ripped off his head phones and demanded, "Why the face?"

"I just don't like heavy metal, and I can hear you listening to it," I admitted timidly. He looked so intimidating sitting beside me staring at me so closely, or not so closely since he was quite taller than I.

"What is wrong with you?"

I blinked. "What?"

"There has to be something very wrong with you." I couldn't tell if he was joking or not because his tone was serious, but maybe he was trying to make it overly serious. "I'm dead serious." Well, that answers that question. "What's so bad about it?"

I lifted my shoulders up then dropped them, "I don't know…it just seems like noise."

This time he blinked. "Noise," he repeated.

"Yes! It sounds like a lot of _angry_ noise and it make me feel depressed and angry."

"It makes me feel calm."

"Okay," I snorted, "Yeah, alright, and you say there's something wrong with _me_?"

His lips quirked into a slight smile, like it always did. He never legitimately smiled with me…I guess I'm just not funny. He shook his head looking away out the window about to put his earphones in when I grab hold of a wrist. His gaze follows from where I grip his wrist to my lips, then my eyes. He raises an eyebrow in question. It was a question I didn't know how to answer. This was the first time since I've known him that we've had an actual conversation, I couldn't just go back to having him be angry with me, and me pretending I don't know him; I had to do something to make this conversation last.

"Umm…let me listen." Maybe saying the first thing that pops into my head isn't the best idea when it comes to people I barely know and barely want to know me.

"I thought you said you didn't like that…what did you call it, right, noise?" I jumped a bit because I forgot Grover was there driving.

I couldn't help, but laugh out loud even though I had planned on rolling my eyes, "You need to stop eavesdropping on me."

"Well, why do you want to listen?" Nico asked me, his deep brown chocolate eyes looking into my mint green ones.

I clear my throat, "Well, you seem to be really passionate about your opinion, so I want you to show me a calm song."

He gave me a half smile handing me an ear bud, and browsing through the songs on his iPod, and then finally choosing one… which sounded just like noise, and it didn't help he was increasing the volume until I screamed ripping the earpiece from my ear. He was laughing hysterically along with Grover, which seemed to be the only time he was happy, when it came to making fun of me. Just then, Annabeth woke up sweaty and screaming.

At this point everyone was awake, reassuring Annabeth that everything was going to be alright, but she dismissed them, going back to urging Grover to drive more rapidly or else she would kill herself. She was being very extreme and irrational, but I didn't want to say anything because at this moment she looked as though she could tear a bull's head off. I looked at Jason to share a look that said, "Wow, she's crazy," or one that said, "Yikes," but he didn't seem to think this was abnormal. Eventually Grover, exhausted from driving for hours, stopped at a motel, so we could spend the night. I thought it may have looked three-star at best, it looked clean, cute, and manageable, obviously Annabeth thought differently since she broke down in tears. I sat down beside her on the bed and soothed her, "It's okay," I whispered, "We can go to a better motel, a cleaner one even."

She made this choking sound, that by her face, I'm guessing was a chuckle, but it's hard to tell because there's too much snot and red splotched on her face to tell. "The sanitation of a motel is not my main priority. The only thing about this motel that bothers me is that Grover wants us to stay the night here."

"Annabeth," Grover pleaded, yawning, "I'm too tired; I cannot drive anymore, let's just rest and continue tomorrow."

"No!" she shrieked creating this massive snot bubble, "I wanted to get there today, but since we can't, we're getting there as close to today as we can. We can't waste any time, I won't allow it."

"Annabeth," I said sternly, attempting to play the role of big sister since she noticeably was the one acting like a child at the moment, "I don't care how long it takes to get to the Underworld, we can take as long as we want, no stressing."

I thought I may have gotten through to her, but she just stared at me with no change of expression on her face, not even a twitch, but then she suddenly broke down again, "Can someone please explain to her what's going on since she's too stupid to know," she whimpered between sobs. I've never seen Annabeth so emotionally weak. There was only one person I could think of that could have cheered her up; her boyfriend.

I sin myself around and around the room, trying to catch sight of Percy, but he's nowhere in sight, and he's not in the bathroom, the door's open, and the lights are off…unless he likes to pee, but I doubt it.

"You're not too stupid Liz," Jonathon reassured me, "You were just asleep when…"

I cut him off, I had to, what if nobody else noticed Percy was missing? "Where's Percy?"

Nico ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "You know how in movies and such the villains use loved ones as bait to get to the main character?"

"Yeah, so, what does that have to do with anything?"

"The Ouranos followers have the other two demi-god children and they need me…"

"We have to go now, we can't stop until they're all dead," she said through gritted teeth clumping the fabric of the bed sheets in her fists.

"I can't drive!" Grover yelled throwing his hands up.

"I will then!" she urged

"No way, you've already shown us you can't drive, considering you ran through three red lights."

"I can do better, at the time I was just acting on impulse. Grover, please I can do better, just let's go, now," she begged. She was even on her knees, it was so heartbreaking I felt a tear almost well up in my own eyes, and I couldn't look away from her as she crimpled to the floor defeated gathering the carpet in her hands.

It was as if my brain froze, I felt as though I understood it, but I couldn't believe it, so I chose not to understand. "I'm not following," I finally said after the longest awkward silence there ever was.

"Liz," Grover snapped growing overly tired and impatient; I could just tell by his voice, so I turn to meet his sleepy grave looking eyes as he says over Annabeth's ear-piercing wails, "Percy's being held hostage."


	7. Chapter 7

I'm leaving the poll open for a couple more weeks since I failed to update frequently in February, which didn't allow readers to get to know the characters better. If I fail to do the same this month, don't hesitate to nag me; it's alright.

Chapter 6

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Jonathon whispers,trying not to wake Annabeth nor Grover. We don't know how we're going to do it, but we need to ditch the safety ropes aka Grover and Annabeth if we want to save Percy because so far every idea Nico, Jonathon, Jason and I have come up with was either too stupid or too dangerous and sometimes both. Now that those two were asleep the four of us could establish a plan that worked for us regardless of whether it was dangerous or not. I was just aggravated by Annabeth's constant nagging and crying. It made me miss my step-mother's PMSing.

"Well, we need to know where we stand, first," Jason states, much with reason, "Obviously; our first priority is getting Percy back."

"Well, we were kind of out here in the first place looking for some answers as to who my real mother is," I say stifling a yawn. _Oh no, I must will myself to stay awake._

"So, what you're saying, Liz," Nico began slowly, "Is that this is your entire fault."

Just then, all of their eyes focused on me, and I felt myself burning up. _Crap, this is my fault!_ Jonathon and Jason's eyes were wide, stricken with part disbelief and part realization, while Nico just sat there with a smirk on his face. I glared at him, but he just returned the favour. I cleared my throat, "Well, this also wouldn't have happened if Nico wasn't here, so this is all _his _fault!"

He snorted, "Come on, nobody was thinking that, but everyone here knew we wouldn't be in this mess if you weren't such a princess who has to have everything her way."

"Now, let's not point fingers. This isn't Liz's fault, and if we keep arguing we aren't getting anywhere."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Jonathon."

"Anyways, let's continue," Jason said, "So, we need a plan that helps us get Percy back, find out whether Liz is a demi-god, and not get caught by Annabeth or Grover. Any ideas?"

"Don't forget we need to protect Nico." I regretted the words even before I was finished saying them, but they just poured out. My cheeks were scarlet, I was certain, and the fact that I could see Nico staring at me through my peripheral vision was helping.

"I don't need protecting," he stated sternly, crossing his arms.

Despite my uneasiness about having to look him in the eye, I expressed my reasoning, "Actually, from what I heard, your people's world could just as well be over if they capture you."

"Actually not just my world, which we might find out is your world, but the whole world, humans included, but whatever."

_Whatever? The whole world could be damned into a life of misery, and all he has to say is: "whatever"? _Before I could spew my wrath on him about how selfish he was, we heard a stirring from across the room, and without any form of oral communication we simultaneously lay down in a wave of fake sleep.

I may just as well be the worst fake sleeper ever, but since there was nothing but footsteps, which sounded as though they were from somebody who was wearing shoes and from outside, I had to open one eye. Outside, cupping their hands and pressing their face against the glass, in an attempt to look inside, was a man in a leather duster jacket, wearing a bulletproof vest, an iron padlock necklace, and red tinted wraparound sunglasses. For an instance I thought that I saw a sparkling flame behind the sunglasses, but then thought better of it. As if he couldn't see a thing he shook his head muttering something to himself while stepping away from the window. When I saw he turning the knob of the motel room that was locked, trying to enter, my heart stopped working and I turned as white as paper. _What if he got in?_ I could hear him picking at the lock and all I was hoping at this instance was for my step-mother oddly enough. She could scare any man off, and at this moment we needed to scare this one pretty badly if he was going to step off. I shut my eyes closed before the door could burst open. Maybe it was a thief who just wanted to steal from the hotel, if he saw I was sleeping, maybe he would leave me alone since I didn't witness him stealing as far as he's aware.

I was wrong, I was so very wrong; it wasn't a thief at all. I knew this because when I opened my eyes and saw everybody, but I was gone, he and I shared the same reaction; both of us speechless until he started swearing up and down pacing the floor until he noticed me staring. He made his way to me in solely three long strides, taking off his sunglasses when he was right in front of me.

I couldn't help the gasp that left my mouth to which he chuckled to, putting his sunglasses back on. His eyes were replaced by flames! I couldn't help, but feel like screaming backing into the wall, crouching into a defensive ball until he left, but I was two days, too wise, so I stood my ground and swallowed. My voice sounded distant when I asked him, "Who are you and what do you want?"

"I'm looking for a boy named Nico, maybe you know him. He's almost as good-looking as I am; he's fairly tall, he's got muscle, dark hair, dark brown eyes, he usually wears dark depressing colours. I'm sure any teenage girl would have noticed him. He's not alone; he's with a group of friends. Have you seen him?" I couldn't tell him I haven't because I knew my tone would give me away, so I just shook my head and muttered a half-hearted, "I wish," before coughing, pretending I had something in my throat, and that was why my voice sounded so shaky. He accepted my answer for the most part before answering my first question, "I'm Ares, I thought you would have known that. I'm pretty sure you're a demi-god, I think I know your mother, I can't remember, but you look familiar. Who are you and who's your mother?"

"I'm Analyse Hatton, but people call me Liz, and I haven't a clue who my mother is. If I may suggest, Sir, to stop looking for this guy because he probably isn't in this city anyways."

"No you can't suggest that because I know very well he is, but how about this," he said squaring his shoulders, readying a preposition, "You help me find this Nico kid, and I'll help you find out who your mother is. I could have sworn I knew her, your features look very familiar." He held out his hand expecting me to shake it, but I held off.

"What happens when I find this Nico guy?" I ask as if I didn't know who Nico was.

"Just give a shout out to Ares, yell it at the top of your lungs, and if that doesn't work, take these," he said handing me some gold coins (_What does he want me to buy the world's largest megaphone?)_, "and make a call, send me an Iris message, and if you don't do either, I'm probably coming to find you to tell you who your mother is anyway."

"What if you don't find out who my mother is?"

"I'm coming to find you anyways." I gulped as he said this, the type of gulp people can hear. He held his hand out again, and something about the way his friendly manner was fading worried me, so I took it.

Before he left I called after him, and he turned around while he was in the door frame. "How do I get him to stay with me when I find him long enough for you to come?"

He smiled, "I never take long, but you're a pretty girl. Make him swoon," he said throwing me some cash, "Go shopping, your gym shorts are hideous."

When he was gone, I ran to the door and locked it. I leaned my back against it and closed my eyes, hoping my tears wouldn't fall. _What have I done_? At the time it seemed like a great idea. I finally met somebody who knew who my mother is and could get straight answers for me, but that would mean selling Nico out, and I couldn't do that, but then Ares is going to come searching for me.

Just then I felt a hard slap against my face, I open my eyes and there Annabeth is. _She knows_.

"Listen, Annabeth, I'm sorry, but," I begin, however she interrupts me as if what I was about to say was irrelevant, which it probably seems to be in the eyes of a close friend of Nico's.

"Are you stupid? Why didn't you follow us out the bathroom window? Do you know who that was?"

"Ares, and you guys snuck out the bathroom window without me?" I ask enraged.

"We were calling your name, granted not that loud since Ares, the god of war, _Ares, _was about to break in. None the less, you should have heard us, the guys said you were keeping them awake hitting on them, plus I saw your eyes open."

"What? They said I was hitting on them?" I ask incredulously.

"For the record, I didn't," Jonathon assured walking out of the washroom followed by Grover, Jason and Nico to put his arm around me in a protective manner. "Annabeth it's not her fault, she was just probably too in shock to process anything."

Nico let out a maniacal laugh. "What?" I demand, my blood pressure going through the roof.

"Jonathon, stop protecting her. It's her fault she almost got slain by Ares and it's her fault we're in this mess. It's not a secret."

I felt like pulling out my maroon roots every time he said that. "This mess is not my fault!" I pressed.

"You do nothing, but create messes!"

Just then there was a knock at the door, and squeaky voice that chimed, "Room service!"

"I didn't order room service," I reply without opening the door.

I didn't hear footsteps leave, so I wondered if she was still there. "I have a letter for an Analyse Hatton," the voice that I'm guessing matched a fragile old woman said. I checked through the window, and it was an old woman holding a white envelope in her shaky hands wearing a maid outfit.

Before opening the door, I turn around and hiss, "Hide," but they don't move. The woman knocks on the door again, so I have to yell, "Coming!" to make sure she stays there. I give an expected look toward them, but Nico starts a chain reaction of laughter and I have no idea what's so funny. They're all laughing and talking at the same time that it's hard to make out what everyone is saying, but the gist of it were snarky comments, insults, Jonathon defending me saying I wouldn't know, and all of them going on about how the mist wouldn't let the mortal cleaning woman see them…followed by more laughter and humiliating comments. I grit my teeth and try to ignore them as I approach the door to unlock it and let the woman in. _I the way they all make me feel so dumb._

I smile at the little woman who's even shorter than I am. She had kind wise eyes and greying hair, and when she smiled, the wrinkles in her face deepened as she held out the letter for me to grab. "Thank you," I tell her sincerely to which she replies, "Why are you all alone?" I didn't want to turn around to see their smiling faces, holding in laughter because it would just annoy me, so I just lie, "My parents are out together on a date night, anyways thank you very much."

Her wise eyes were in the works as I could see the wheels turning behind her eyes as they filled with worry, but she nodded and replied kindly, "Oh, you're very welcome, Dear," before trotting along slowly towards the main building.

I open the envelope as I settle down on the bed, and inside is even more cash, a picture of Nico and a map of the city. The letter reads:

_Hey, Analyse. Here's your pay for your efforts, a picture of who you're looking for and a map of the city. Try your best; you do not want to let me down. _

"Liz! Tell us what it is!"

Just as I hear the words I slip the contents back in the envelope and my head snaps up, but just as I'm doing so I remember I'm ignoring them, however once my head is up, I don't see any of them. I assume they're hiding so I start walking around trying to find them. At some point I think I see movement to my left so I squint my eyes hard trying to focus in that direction. _Maybe I'm missing something_. I tilt my head a bit to look under the bed, but then out of thin air Nico materializes right in front of me. At first I panic that it is Nico who's in front of me and shove the letter in my bra. Then, I panic at how close he is. Then, I panic at the enraged look on his face, and finally I panic that I couldn't see any of them just a moment ago, but now they are all here.

"What has gotten into you?" he barks. "You were acting like you couldn't see or hear us! It's not funny, we're sorry we made fun of you, but it's important we know who that letter is from and what it's about. We need to know nobody is on our trail.

"It's from my step-mom, she sent money" I blurt out.

"You tell your mom you're skipping town, staying at a motel when you are only sixteen years old, and she's okay with that? Are you telling me she finds it just fine and sent you money?" I flash some cash in front of his face to help my reasoning, but he just rolls his eyes. "That still doesn't explain why you couldn't see us."

It sounded ridiculous I know, but I couldn't help feel that what I was saying was the truth. "I think… I can control the mist," of course smirks all-round the room, but I persisted, "I'm serious, I think I can put the mist wall up and down whenever I want to. Like, before I had totally forgotten you guys were here, I was just concentrating on that Ares guy not hurting me that I lost complete connection with you guys. Right now, too I couldn't stand the ridicule so I just zoned you guys out to the extent where the wall of mist prevented me from seeing through the wall you were putting up for the cleaning woman."

Grover, who I now noticed was chewing on my empty Coke can (_That guy has weird written all over him)_ replied with his mouth full, "That actually does not sound as stupid as it did a minute ago."

I was surprised when Nico gave me a polite nod, and smile, but then he said, "I totally agree…it sounds stupider."

Annabeth, seeming back on her toes at the instance, was thinking about the logical reliability of this, "Assuming this is true, and you do, as you say, have control over the mist, if we tinker with your ability we may be able to see how strong it is. If it is strong enough, I want to know if you could create a mist strong enough so that the monsters of our world can't even see us. With this we can make our way back to where they are keeping Percy, rescue him, without getting hurt. Of course this is assuming your power is strong enough. Scratch that, I meant assuming that your alleged ability is true."

"So, what are we doing from here, where do we go?" Jason asks.

Feeling the letter in my bra, I just remembered my obligation. _How could I have been so stupid to agree?_ "We stay here."

"Why?" inquired Annabeth looking at me through curious eyes.

"We need to stay put to train me," _And if Ares finds out I skipped town, he'll kill me. _

"True," she agreed smiling.

"I need some air," I gasped not being able to breathe. My heart was racing, I could feel it in my ears, and my palms were sweaty, making the golden coins in my hand transfer their scent onto my palm. _I just need to call Ares and tell him I don't want to do this deal and return all his cash._ I now realized I had walked a block to a pay phone, but realized these coins won't fly by as quarters.

"Where did you find those coins?"

The expectancy of not seeing him, or anybody as a matter of fact, threw me off and at the sound of his voice I jumped into the glass wall. "Are you insane?" I shrieked grasping my heart as it hammered in my chest and my head throbbed from the glass wall, "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Nico chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, "Maybe a little," he said winking. "Why do you have gold drachmas?

"Annabeth dropped them," I lied, which was recently far more frequent than my honesty. "The Ares guy said they were for calling sort of, he called it an Iris message."

He smirked shaking his head, "Why would you go to a payphone?"

I gave him a flat look, "Are you really going to try to make fun of me for associating "calling" with a payphone?"

He let out a laugh than a breath. "I guess I can't do that can I?" I shook my head unable to resist smiling. His smile was contagious because of how rare it was when somebody's misery wasn't the cause of it. "I wanted to apologize."

My eyebrows shot up in disbelief. "Well, I like where this is going so far…"

"I think I might be too hard on you sometimes. I know you're new to all of this, and sometimes I'm just angry."

"Maybe it's because of the music you listen to," I mutter to which he holds his hand to his heart in a mocking '_How could you?'_ manner.

"So," he said reaching into his pockets to retrieve quarters to put into the pay phone, "Who are you calling?"

I couldn't talk to Ares about Nico in front of Nico so I just told him I didn't need to call anybody, I was just wondering how the god coins worked.

Nico attempted to get his coins back, but the machine swallowed it. "Thanks for wasting my money, Liz," he said jokingly.

"Anytime," I replied giggling. He took something else out of his pocket.

He started unwrapping his earphones and smiled at me, "Music players: one of my favourite inventions by mortals," he murmured offering me an earpiece, "Come on, let's take a walk."

I obliged, taking the earpiece which had a loud boisterous song exploding out of it. The song was called "Final Episode" by Asking Alexandria, and as we walked along I could hear him laughing as I seemingly bobbed my head to the music when in reality I was nodding my head, agreeing with the final lines of the song. I was scared.


End file.
